Best Of CES 2010: Guy Gear

Discovered: The Best Of CES 2010

Every year, CES showcases the new features and products consumers can expect to see emerge from the tech industry in the near future. Like every convention before it, CES 2010 was highlighted by a variety of remarkable technological advances being made in virtually every field. While we've already taken the time to brief you on the biggest trend announced at CES, through our roundups on 3-D TVs and 3-D-related gear such as cameras and Blu-ray players, below you'll find more information on the best of CES 2010 in the fields of e-Book readers, gaming, photography, and computing.

Though certainly a variety of other worthy products could have been mentioned, including the previously covered Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid and Sierra's Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot, our picks for the best of CES 2010 were made in the interest of highlighting the best products we haven’t discussed yet. So, read on below for a peek into the future, and feel free to let us know what you're most excited about by commenting.

Best Of CES 2010: Guy Gear

Spring Design’s $349 Alex eReader

One of the major tech trends currently receiving a ton of attention from consumer electronics manufacturers is eBook readers. The Alex eReader, built by manufacturing newcomer Spring Design, appears to be in the forefront of the device race thanks to smart design and unique interaction capabilities. Following the strategy first showed off in the Barnes & Noble nook, the Alex features a 6-inch e-ink display, along with a 3.5-inch color touchscreen and runs Android 1.6. However, unlike the nook, which separates content between its two screens, the Alex allows users to transfer content being viewed on the bottom color screen up to the larger e-ink display for better viewing. Shipping in late February for a price of $349, interested buyers will also appreciate the firm's recent partnership with Borders, ensuring that a robust number of titles will be easily accessible for purchase on the Alex.

Eye-Fi Wireless Card

At first glance it may not look like anything worth noting; however, the reality is that the Eye-Fi Pro X2 memory card will revolutionize photo storage. Besides providing ample space for saving files, this card's built-in 802.11n wireless functionality allows photographers to wirelessly transfer files off the card and onto a computer or cloud-based service like Flickr, MobileMe or Facebook, for safe secure backup. So called "Endless" memory mode takes advantage of this functionality in a particularly convenient way by automatically deleting files as necessary from the card after they've been securely uploaded. This ensures the card always has space to store more photos, and eliminates the need for photographers to constantly monitor how much space is available for shooting. Priced at $150, it is hands-down one of the best camera accessories available now, let alone one of the best items we saw at CES 2010.

Intel's Wireless Display

Winning CNET's coveted People's Voice Award at CES 2010, Intel's new wireless display technology promises to allow laptop users to easily view laptop-based content on an external display, such as an HDTV or extra monitor. Needless to say, it appears to be a dramatic improvement over current solutions involving direct wired connections or clunky media extender boxes. However, based on the initial statements made by Intel, there are a variety of catches associated with the technology that may limit its accessibility. For instance, in order for the Wireless Display to work, Intel states the technology requires selected 2010 Intel Core processors, Intel HD Graphics and Intel Centrino wireless cards with Intel's MyWiFi technology enabled. Expect to see this convenience feature only in specifically equipped laptops starting to be released later this year.

MyFord

Determined to bring car interiors up to speed with the technological advances being made left and right elsewhere, Ford (surprisingly) announced its newly branded "MyFord" system as a distinctive feature that will be included in select models rolling out later this year. Vehicles equipped with the system will have two 4.2-inch color LCDs: one within the instrument cluster and one on the dashboard. The more robust MyFord Touch system will include the same 4.2-inch screens, both positioned in the instrument cluster, and an additional 8-inch LCD touchscreen in the middle of the dash. Outside of hardware, big changes involve the decision to move storage of navigation maps from a hard drive to an SD card. This provides added safety by preventing the loss of navigation info due to hard drive failure, as well as making it easier for owners to update maps. HD radio with song tagging is another new feature that allows users to tag songs heard and save them to the system’s memory, making purchasing them at a later date a snap. Along these lines, a new unified library setup lists music from a variety of sources including iPods, CDs and the radio, all in one place for convenient browsing. Last but not least, the included update to Ford's Sync software developed in partnership with Microsoft will allow cars to become mobile Wi-Fi hot spots when cell phones are connected to the system's USB slot. Subsequently, in-car Web browsing can then be enabled for the large 8-inch touchscreen on the dash.

Alienware M11X

In a surprise move to access a wider market and shed its reputation as only providing pricey and powerful gaming computers, Dell’s Alienware division announced the M11x 11.6-inch laptop. Featuring the ability to quickly switch graphics processing from a high-powered desecrate Nvidia GT335M GPU for intense gaming to the system's more battery-friendly Intel Core 2 U7300 ULV main processor for other tasks, buyers should get the best of what both gaming PCs and standard notebook computers have to offer. As usual, the laptop also exhibits unique Alienware styling details such a red lit keyboard as well as custom body work. Even better, the series is set to be priced at under $1,000, which is unheard of for Alienware, with some models even hitting the $799 range. That puts these computers on par with standard portables, making them quite attractive for any gamer on a budget and on the go.

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